Y'all, I freaking loved this book. Let me get this out of the way right now so we're not holding anything back. It ticked all my personal boxes and I mentally flagged Victoria James as someone I'm going to track down the backlist of and inhale them over the upcoming holiday season.

A BILLIONAIRE'S CHRISTMAS PROPOSAL takes place in Toronto and stars Allie and Ethan, who have known each other for years. He's asked her out a few times, but she was convinced he was a playboy not interested in a commitment. Allie, who is a social worker by profession and is holding a shelter for at-risk youth together with her bare hands, has no time for such malarkey so she's placed Ethan firmly in the "lovely pal, but nothing else" box.

And then her apartment burns down and she and her sister are homeless in the Toronto winter. Ethan is the only one she knows because, as you can tell from the title, he's a gazillionaire who has spare room and no live-in family ties, so she calls him to crash. He is happy to help because he's still totally into her and we go from there.

I'm a social worker, too, so maybe I'm a little biased, but Allie is a good person and that alone makes me root for her. She's balancing a lot and doesn't really have anyone to unload some of her burdens on. As she learns that Ethan is possibly that dude, I was cheering her on. For his credit, Ethan is also a good guy. His baggage comes from being from a super dysfunctional family, but he clearly wants to be more. I fell for this dude quickly and loved watching him grow throughout the story. Specifically, he learns a better relationship between himself and his money and his future than he had at the beginning of the story and don't we all just love when our heroes become better versions of themselves?

A BILLIONAIRE'S CHRISTMAS PROPOSAL is a perfect Christmas story. There's tons of happily ever after moments, sweet Yuletide joy and the kind of satisfaction that only comes from getting to see two people find happiness and hope in each other.